We were originally booked on Freedom of the Seas from Cape Liberty to Bermuda, 22Jul21 and so disappointed when it was cancelled. Thankfully, we were able to snag cabins on this sailing to celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary. Joining us were daughter, her 2 sons (9 and 12), her significant other and his son (10) from California and our other daughter from Massachusetts. The fast turnaround to rebook flights, cabins, pre-cruise lodging and pick new excursions was greatly assisted by very patient RCCL telephone agents.

Arriving at the Port of Miami about 45 minutes before our scheduled boarding time of 1:30 pm, we were met by organized chaos. Boarding groups were taken in at their designated times, passports and vaccination card (if you wanted to show it) were scanned, unvaccinated were taken to another area for a Covid test and vaccinated were ushered upstairs and onto the ship. After a safety briefing/individualized muster station drill, we were told to proceed to our cabin to get our sea passes. This all took another 30 minutes from the time we entered the front door, which would have been less time if we had all completed everything in the online check in the weeks before sailing.

The ship was sparkling clean from stem to stern, the food in every venue was meticulously prepared, presented and delicious. The crew, by far Royal Caribbean's most valuable asset, was friendly, efficient, enthusiastic and made our experience so spectacular. Read more